Since the introduction of the Apple iPhone in June 2007, the number of computing devices known as smart phones has vastly increased. These devices typically consist of a touch screen that fronts a highly sophisticated, versatile, thin, and lightweight computer that among other things, serves as a point-and-shoot camera, a video camera, and a face-to-face wireless communications device. Some of the latest popular incarnations of these devices are the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, with thicknesses in the neighborhood of 7 mm.
While such devices represent marvels of modern communication, voice recording, photography, videography, gaming and the consumption and documentation of information and entertainment; they all share a major deficiency that limits their usability; the ability to be positioned to various angles and orientations with respect to a base (a resting surface) in order eliminate glare, steady a camera shot, position the video camera at an optimum angle for recording a scene, for communicating wirelessly with another person over an extended period of time without tiring one's hand, as well as for consuming information or entertainment while freeing both hands to eat, or to perform other tasks concurrently.
A multitude of offerings from several manufacturers of smart phone cases reveals that the great majority of current smart phone cases do not include a stand, and of the relatively small number of manufacturers that do include a stand, most include stands that can only provide for one or two viewing angles (with respect to a resting surface or base.)
One company that currently offers smart phone cases with stands that can be positioned to various angles and orientations with respect to a base is ZeroChroma, LLC (www.zerochroma.com) through their “VarioProtect”, “VarioEdge”, and “Vortex” cell phone cases. The ZeroChroma designs use a series of flexible “bumps” that are transverse to the axis of rotation of the pivoting support element or stand to fix the rotation of the stand. While the ZeroChroma, LLC designs provide multiple viewing angles that can effectively eliminate glare and provide an ergonomic viewing experience, their designs are relatively complex, add substantial weight and thickness to a smart phone, and require a relatively strong force to unlock and deploy the pivoting support element or stand.
Therefore a need exists for a simple and compact technology that not only can support a relatively large number of adjustable viewing angles for a smart phone, but that can do so with minimum additional weight, thickness, effort, and cost, that it may become a ubiquitous appendage to most smart phones in the future.